Shirley Bennett
Bio Shirley Bennett (née Edwards) began the series as a recently-divorced woman who is taking courses at Greendale Community College to learn how to make a business out of her baking skills. Before enrolling at Greendale, Shirley was a married stay at home mom with her two sons, Jordan and Elijah. However, her husband Andre left her and the family for a stripper. Despite her hardships, she claims that her husband leaving was the best thing that happened to her and that attending Greendale is her first step in improving her life. She has since made up with and remarried Andre, had another child with him and opened a sandwich shop in the Greendale Cafeteria. She is portrayed by actress Yvette Nicole Brown. Personality Shirley is a devout Baptist and is the most religious member of the study group whose surface good-natured personality belies some thinly-veiled rage issues. While she is proud to be an African American woman and a mother she tries not to be defined by just those characteristics. Her age is something she is very sensitive about as she is one of the older study group members and often tries to prove to them that she is still relevant. She becomes the "mother hen" of the group often offering unwanted advice or opinions to the other members. She admits to having a gossiping problem, one which has cost her past relationships needlesly stirring the pot between her friends. It's been suggested by the study group that she also has a baking problem and tries too hard to be liked by baking goods for everyone. She often struggles with tolerance for the other faiths of the non-Christian members of the study group. She has gone as far as trying to covertly baptize Annie (who is Jewish) at a pool party and suggested they baptize Abed (who is Muslim) while he was in a cataonic state. Character History Season One Shirley is invited to a Spanish study group by Abed along with a few other classmates. Although she discovers it's fake, she and the rest of the members decide to form a real one. She spends the year struggling to accept the fact her marriage is over and trying to build a new life while balancing the responsibilities left over from her old one. She also has to deal with Pierce who she comes into conflict with on a few occasions. Significant episodes: Season Two In Shirley's second year at Greendale she and the study group take Anthropology together. Shirley reconciles with her ex-husband Andre Bennett and they start dating. She learns she is pregnant but it's revealed that she had a fling with Ben Chang and he may be the father and not Andre. '''Significant episodes:' Season Three In Shirley's third year at Greendale, she and the study group are taking Biology class together. Andre proposes to her and they get remmarried in an imptomptu ceremony. She also becomes partners with Pierce in a proposed sandwich shop thanks to the encouragement of Britta. Towards the end of the year, she and the study group are expelled form school thanks to Ben Chang's machinations. Significant episodes: Relationships in the study group Jeff (See main article: "Jeff and Shirley") In the Season One episode "Social Psychology", the two bond over gossiping especially over Britta's then-relationship with Vaughn. They later discover they have a shared history in the Season Three episode "Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism". When Shirley was twelve years old she bullied a ten-year-old Jeff during a foosball game. This incident had a profound effect on both of them. Shirley realized she went too far and changed from a bully into a more caring person, Jeff decided he was weak and decided to adapt a more uncaring and aloof persona. They made peace with each other over their past and have since developed a close relationship. Annie As the more compassionate members of the study group, they often take issue with many of the morally ambiguous antics of their friends. Because she is the youngest of the group, Shirley is often overprotective of her which sometimes annoys Annie (along with Shirley's various attempts to convert her to Christianity). In spite of this, they have developed a good friendship and will often find the same things adorable. This leads to them both saying "Aww!" at the same time which has become a running gag on the show. They also have a secret handshake first shown in "Communication Studies" Abed Like the other study group members, Shirley treats Abed in a motherly way. She is often unsure of what to make of Abed, and is often annoyed by his childish antics. She also questions the true nature of his relationship to Troy which has become a running gag on the show. Although impressed with Abed's powers of observation and skill as a filmmaker she is shown to be wary of it, especially when he goes to far with his abilities. In thier second year together at Greendale, Abed was inspired by Shirley to shoot a religious film but took his meta concept too far and made an overproduced mess. Shirley helped him salvage his reputation by destroying his film and in the process the two came to a better understanding of each other. Britta Britta and Shirley get along very well despite some major differences of opinions. Britta's Athiestic beliefs sometimes annoys Shirley who is devout in her Christian faith. Even so, Britta was protective of her friend when she reunited with her ex-husband not wanting her to be hurt again and put aside her own discomfort with marriage to help Shirley plan her wedding to Andre. Shirley for her part was supportive of Britta when dealing with her romantic issues with Jeff and also taught her the importance of women bonding in the restroom. Their close friendship was demonstrated when they both gravitated towards each other when given a choice of who to be lab partners with in Biology. Pierce (See main article: "Shirley and Pierce") Shirley has a strained relationship with Pierce as his boorish behavior are a constant source of irritation. She tries her best to put up with his accidentally rascist and bigoted comments as she realizes it's not done out of hate but due to his own ignorance. In their first year together at Greendale he made unwanted advances towards her and also depantsed of her. Althought they put that behind them, Pierce's villanous actions in their second year at school led to Shirley and the rest of the study group, sans Annie, to vote him out. After meditating all summer at a religious retreat, Pierce returns with a frendlier attitude and is welcomed back to the study group. Later in their thrid year, Pierce and Shirley form a business partnership and open a Sandwhich shop at Greendale. Other notable relationships Andre Bennett (See main article:"Andre Bennett") S hirley spent the entire first season single. As Season Two progressed, Shirley reunited with her ex-husband and became pregnant with their third child. Although a large debate existed over whether Ben Chang was the father from the Halloween Dance affair, her ex-husband Andre chose to stay with Shirley and be the child's father. The child was born, and they named him Ben Bennett. Shirley named him after Chang because he comforted her and stayed at her side while she gave birth. Currently, she is still with her ex-husband, Andre. They have since remarried. Shirley's children: (See main article:"Shirley's children") Elijah, Jordan, and Ben are the children of Shirley and Andre Bennett. Although they are rambunctious and seem uncaring, both Elijah and Jordan have demonstrated that they have Shirley's kindness and compassion. Ben is the youngest child and his parentage came into question when it was discovered that Shirley had a brief fling with Chang. Gary: In her first year at Greendale, Shirley was good friends with Gary, a student from Finland known for being a buzz-kill and a generally unpleasant person to be around. Nevertheless, Shirley considered him a good friend and would often try to get the other him included in study group's activites. He ended up transferring at the end of the year much to the celebration of everyone but Shirley. Class history Trivia * Shirley's favorite movie is Doc Hollywood. * Prior to her first year, Shirley had a drinking problem. * In the Community College Chronicles, Shirley is played by Dioni Snyder. * Shirley is excellent at Foosball as of Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism. Videos thumb|400px|center|Best of Shirley - Season 1 Category:Community Characters Category:Season 1 Characters Category:Greendale Students Category:Main Characters Category:Season 2 Characters Category:Season 3 Characters Category:Shirley Bennett Category:Pairings